A Family Christmas
by Ikuni Hattori
Summary: A soft pattering of feet against hard wood floor. Astasia felt the bed shift slightly. Silence. "Mother!" She groaned and swatted at the little mosquito that insisted on pestering her. "Mother! Wake up! It's Christmas!"


**I do not own. If I did, I wouldn't be here now, would I? (PS: I own Astasia. . .and Giant. . .that's it!)**

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A soft pattering of feet against hard wood floor. Astasia felt the bed shift slightly.

Silence.

"Mother?!" a harsh whispered came from the body next to her. She groaned and swatted at the little mosquito that insisted on pestering her. "Mother! Wake up! It's Christmas!!" the voice whispered again. Astasia's arm swatted again, this time connecting with her son's forehead as he waited as a patient puppy next to her bed.

"Father?" The whisper of her eldest son came from the other side of the bed. Sephiroth groaned as he turned over and buried his face into a nest of pillows, blankets, and his wife's arm. Astasia sighed as her husband snuggled up to her arm and turned around so she was cuddling up to him, trying to block out her sons' incessent whispering. It could only work for so long.

"Mom? Father? Giant got into the fridge again. There's no more food left," the voice of her youngest son sounded throughout the room. She could tell he was standing in the doorway. Unlike his brothers, he actually respected his parent's privacy.

"Okay, you three remember the plan, right?" Astasia disregarded that sentence. It was probably nothing for her to worry about. She sighed blissfully as sleep started to grasp her mind once more. "One. . . .two. . . .THREE!" On 'three,' four large masses landed on top of her and Sephiroth's bed, and in essence, on top of her and him as well. Astasia rolled to her back and then jacknifed to a sitting position, fire in her eyes as she stared down her sons. Her husband jacknifed as well, only Kadaj, the youngest of the triplets, was crouched too close to his father. They cracked skulls and both fell, clutching their foreheads. Astasia continued to stare down her other three sons. All four stared at each other for a few seconds, and then, as if on cue, the three all erupted into puppy dog pouts, their eyes shining with fake tears.

"Mother, it's Christmas!" Yazoo, her second oldest exclaimed in his calm voice. Her eldest, Loz, had his lip trembling already.

"Mother, can we go open presents?!" Kadaj appeared from out of nowhere and joined his two older brothers and one younger brother in their puppy pouts.

"PWEASE?!" All four begged as they stared at their mother adoringly. Astasia looked back at them. One eye twitched, and then she fell back onto her bed, the pillows suctioning her form in.

"Fine," she breathed as she prepared her sensitive hearing for an outburst that would come. Any minute no-

"YEA!/YAY!/YES!/WOOT!" all four screamed simultaneously. They all scrambled off of the bed and headed for the living room to where the presents and tree laid.

"Ugh," she groaned as she flipped on to her stomach, trying to bury her face into her pillow. She felt her husband shift next to her and then all of a sudden, his hands were on her back, readily giving her a massage. Astasia felt her eyes roll into the back of her head and she mewled in enjoyment. A shout from one of her sons from downstairs brought her out of her stupor just in time to notice Sephiroth clasp a necklace around her throat. She looked down at it and immediately thought of all the money he had spent just to acquire the piece of jewelry. Noticing the paper beads she had taught Loz to make only a month earlier on the cheap metal chain, she smiled to herself and gave Sephiroth a kiss. Without talking, both got out of bed and, with robes in hand, made their way down the stairs to where the Christmas tree was.

Four puppy dog puts and a giant dog awaited the couple as they neared the bottom of the staircase. Sephiroth separated from his wife at the landing and disappeared into the kitchen while Astasia settled herself onto the couch, tuckng her feet under her. The four watched the entryway to wait for their father to reemerge. As soon as he came into view-and gave his head nod of a consent to start ripping open packages- the teenage brothers devoured mostly everything that was placed under the evergreen. Sephiroth walked over and kissed the top of Astasia's hewad while he handed her a mug of hot tea. He then settled next to her and watched as their sons ripped open the tastefully decorated boxes.

No more than fifteen minutes later-because Yazoo and Riku took their time- most of the gifts were opened. Kadaj had gotten a new gun and ammo, courtesy of Yazoo, a beaded necklace and a Mastered Shiva Materia from Loz, and a certificate of doing a whole week's worth of chores and a gas card to MogHut for his motorcycle from Riku. Loz had also gotten a gas card and an I.O.U. for a training session, no holds bar, from Riku, a new battery, charger, and voltage upgrade from Yazoo, and the two new CDs done by Straight No Chaser from Kadaj.

Riku received a Mastered Ifrit Materia from Loz, a new jacket from Yazoo, and a homemade calendar for the up and coming year with pictures of Arya plastered everywhere on it and a coupon for a haircut from Kadaj. Yazoo was given a gas card and an I.O.U. for a free Tag Along from Riku, hairties and floral scented shampoo from Kadaj and a Mastered Odin Materia from Loz.

Astasia then got up and went to a hidden corner behind the tree. "Boys, come here," she commanded them and the four teens gathered around their mother. She started handing out the last of the gifts to be opened, saving the rest for when the rest of the family came over. "Kadaj, here's your gift." She handed him a box that was slightly larger than his head, covered in forest green chocobos over a red background. He took it gleefully, and literally skipped over to his corner where the rest of his opened gifts laid. "Loz, this is yours." A box that was about three times as big as Kadaj's was pushed over to the eldest of the four teens. He grabbed onto it as if it were a life line and hauled it up to his chair, so others wouldn't peek at him opening it. "Riku, you're next." The youngest of them all was handed five separate boxes, all about the size of his fist. He didn't bother going to where the rest of his things were. He waited for Yazoo to get his present. "Yazoo, here you go." Astasia passed over two large boxes, both larger than Loz's. The longer haired teen pushed his boxes over to where his and Riku's stacks laid, his youngest brother following. Astasia then turned to Sephiroth and, with the crook of her finger, motioned him over to where she was. He silently got up and padded to where she was partially hidden by the tree. A box was stuffed in his arms and Astasia seemed to bounce with excitement as she waited for him to open up her gift. Sephiroth sighed and sat down in front of her, cross legged.

Deftly opening up the package with a single slice of his fingers, Sephiroth opened the box to be face with leather. His eyes wide, he stood up and unfolded the piece of clothing his wife had gotten him.

The new leather scent enveloped him as he held up the new black trench coat. The buckles were silver, just like his old one, but this coat seemed to shimmer, and was lighter than his other one. Looking closely, he noticed that the coat was made of black scales. Looking up at his wife, she anticipated his question.

"It's made of Midgar Zolom scales. Water- and fire-proof. Your other one was getting a little worn, so I'd thought. . .do you like it?" she asked almost timidly, her voice still somewhat husky from sleep. Sephiroth's eyes softened and he knelt down by her. He gave her a soft kiss. When they parted, he noticed a piece of paper on the floor that had fallen out when he had picked up the coat. Picking it up, he noticed that it was an I.O.U. addressed to him, for a night without the boys around. Sephiroth grinned wickedly, and then stood up. Walking around the tree, he reached a spot that had a hole of ornaments in it and extended his hand. He pulled back and had an envelope and a sparkly ornament in his hand. Walking back to where Astasia sat, he knelt next to her and handed her the envelope. Raising an eyebrow, Astasia opened it up and her eyes widened as a certificate to the new Tonberyl Spa and Inn fell into her lap. As she gaped at the piece of paper sitting on her leg, which included a weekend getaway for her and four of her friends, Sephiroth neared her and reached around her, the ornament in one hand. After he pulled back, Astasia thought to look at why a new weight had settled around her neck and she gaped at the 10k diamond necklace that laid around her neck. She looked up at her husband in mild shock. After a second, an enormous smile overtook her and she launched herself into his arms. He hugged her back.

"Only the most beautiful necklace for the most beautiful woman that has ever graced this planet," he whispered into her ear. Astasia couldn't help it. She started to cry as she clung to Sephiroth. A face appeared no more than two inches away from her own.

"Mother, why are you crying?" Loz asked as he peered at Astasia's face. She blinked away her tears and smiled at her eldest song.

"I'm just happy," she replied. Loz nodded once and then pulled on Sephiroth.

"Come on! Look at what we got!" he exclaimed excitedly, and he then bounded off to his corner. Sephiroth looked over his shoulder to see his sons comparing the gifts they got.

"OMG! Why did I get a blonde doll?! And a set of pins?! Does it look like I sew?!" Kadaj complained. Astasia shook her head as she detached herself from Sephiroth. She made her way over to Kadaj.

"It's a voodoo doll of Cloud. The pins you get to use to poke him wherever." Kadaj's face lit up, literally, like a child's on Christmas Day. A devious smile then took over his features. "BUT," she continued, a stern look appearing on her face, "if those pins are used for anything else besides that doll, both the pins and the doll will be taken away from you, understand?" Kadaj nodded his head and hastily went to rip open the box of pins.

"I got a box of Materia!" Loz boasted to his younger brothers. Kadaj stuck his tongue out at him and then proceeded to stab a pin into the spot where the doll would have a spleen.

"Mother, how did you know that I wanted this?" Yazoo asked patiently as he stared down in rapture at the bottles and bottles of shampoo and conditioner.

"When I start to have half bottles of the shampoo and conditioner, I start to question where it's been going. I use entire bottles at a time, by the way," Sephiroth replied instead, seeing as how Astasia was being glomped by Riku at the moment. Yazoo nodded, and then smiled widely. Riku was still bear-hugging his mother, for the five new keychains he had received for his keyblade. Each one had been made by members of his family, and each design had been unique.

Giant padded his way through all the opened paper and settled down into it, letting off a gigantic burp before laying his head down to go to sleep. Which reminded Astasia of something.

"Riku, earlier, what did you say about Giant?" she asked.

"Oh, he had gotten into the fridge and had eaten everything. . .in. . .it. . . ." Riku paled as he stared at the shaking visage of his mother. Looking at the clock, he quickly realized that they had two hours before everyone started to arrive for the 'family' christmas party. Riku knew this wouldn't turn out well.

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**Ugh, I could have done better with this. In this case, unfortunately, I guess I wasn't thinking. Seems like too much description. I just seem to be listing the gifts, don't I? . R&R if you want.**


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